RECEPTION An informal reception was held on Friday afternoon, February 27th, 2015 in the Hospitality Room of The Hilton Perimeter Park, 8 Perimeter Park South Birmingham, AL, as members and guest were registering. It was hosted by the Ladies of the Grand York Rite. They were assisted by the wives of other York Rite members of Alabama. It was a superb reception with many sweet treats and was enjoyed by everyone. DIVINE SERVICE The Annual Divine Service of the Grand York Rite of Alabama was held on Friday evening, February 27th, 2015. The welcome to our Divine Service was by Grand Commander Paul Drinkard. The Call to worship was by the Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery George L. Marshall, Jr.. The Scripture readings were read by the Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery. Special music was played by Gayle Thomas and music directed by Cindy Williams. The Right Eminent Grand Commander Drinkard announced that the offering received would go to the different Charities of the Grand York Rite Bodies. THE GRAND YORK RITE BANQUET The Grand York Rite Annual Banquet was held on Saturday evening February 28th, 2015 in the Banquet room of The Hilton Perimeter Park South. After the Invocation, a delicious meal of Chicken Cordon Bleu with a medley of vegetables was enjoyed by all. The Presiding Grand Officers introduced their Families, and a few distinguished guests. Ted Burgess, Right Eminent Southeast Department Commander, introduced the KTCH recipient for 2015 Sir Knight Richard C. “Rusty” Beck of Anniston Commandery # 23, Anniston, AL, along with the recipient of the KCT award Sir Knights Robert D. Moseson of Lee Commandery #45 in Phenix City, AL. Also Sir Knight Burgess and Grand Commander Drinkard presented the Grand Encampment’s Companion of the Temple Award to Mrs. Anne V. George, wife of Sir Knight Marion Patton George of Cyrene Commandery #10 Birmingham, AL. The Most Excellent Deputy General Grand High Priest of the Southeastern Region of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, International John F. Wermann was introduced and asked to present the General Grand Chapter award of Bronze to the recipient, Bruce E. Niemeyer Eunomia Chapter #5 located in Huntsville, AL along with Most Excellent Grand High Priest Thomas F. Craig. The Most Illustrious Deputy Grand Master Southeastern Region Kenneth Dyer, along with the Most Illustrious Grand Master of Royal & Select Masters of Alabama Companion Ronald L. Thomas then announced the recipient of The General Grand Council Cryptic Mason of the year award Companion Michael F. Feld of Eureka Council # 5 in Huntsville, AL. Most Illustrious Grand Master Ronald L. Thomas presented the Ish Sodi Award to Companions J. Barney Lusk of Mobile Council, Jerry Ogletree of Dothan Council and Hiram Williams, Birmingham-Metro Council. Most Illustrious Grand Master Thomas presented the Lady of the Council Award to THE GRAND YORK RITE BANQUET (Continued) Mrs. Debbie Herrington, wife of Alan Herrington of Mobile Council. Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed old friendships along with making new ones. Ladies Entertainment The ladies attended a luncheon on Saturday February 28th, 2015 held in the Jefferson room 1 and 2. The hospitality room was open Friday and Saturday where the ladies met to partake of the many sweet treats and other refreshment furnished by the wives of the Alabama Grand York Rite. On Friday evening after the Knight Masons dinner the ladies returned to the hotel and played bingo in the inverness room. On Saturday a number of the ladies went shopping while others relaxed in the hospitality room or their rooms. The twenty sixth annual crafts shop with donated handmade items was opened throughout the Grand Session. The Craft shop was organized by Lady Debbie Crook. The proceeds from the sales in the Craft’s room were equally divided between the three Grand York Rite Charities. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVOCATION OF THE GRAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER OF ALABAMA HELD FEBRUARY 27TH, 28TH, AND MARCH 1ST, 2015 Hilton Perimeter Park South 8 Perimeter Park South Birmingham, Alabama PRESIDING 2014-2015 THOMAS F. CRAIG Most Excellent Grand High Priest 1000 Lexington Street SE, Huntsville, AL 35801 Elected 2015-2016 RONALD L. THOMAS Most Excellent Grand High Priest 5679 County Road 53 Abbeville, AL 36310 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHTH CONVOCATION OF THE GRAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER OF ALABAMA The one hundred and eighty-eighth annual convocation of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Alabama was held in the Cahaba rooms 1 and 2 of the Hilton Perimeter Park South in Birmingham, Alabama February 27th, 28th, 2015 A.I.2545. Most Excellent Grand High Priest Thomas F. Craig after ascertaining that a constitution number of subordinate Chapters were represented declared one hundred and eighty-eighth annual convocation opened. The following Grand Chapter Officers were present and in their stations: Companion Thomas F. Craig __________________________ Grand High Priest Companion Ronald L. Thomas _________________________ Grand King Companion Thomas H. Nesbit _________________________ Grand Scribe Companion Joe D. Lee _______________________________ Grand Treasurer Companion Hiram O. Williams, Jr. _____________________ Grand Secretary Companion George L. Marshall, Jr. _____________________ Grand Chaplain Companion Lawrence E. Fouse ________________________ Grand Marshall Companion William Jerry Burfitt _______________________Grand Captain of the Host Companion Jamie A. Smith ___________________________ Grand Principal Sojourner Companion William H. (JR) Bledsoe, Jr. _________________ Grand Royal Arch Captain Companion Ronald G. Andress _________________________ Grand Master of the 3rd Veil Companion James H. Crook ____________________________ Grand Master of the 2nd Veil Companion Roger Kim Harrison _________________________ Grand Master of the 1st Veil Companion Bruce E. Niemeyer __________________________ Grand Sentinel INTRODUCTION OF PAST MOST EXCELLENT GRAND HIGH PRIESTS The following Past Most Excellent Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Alabama were escorted to the East for introductions: George L. Marshall, Jr. _______________________________________ 1987-1988 Emory J. Ferguson ___________________________________________1996-1997 MacArthur Davis ____________________________________________2001-2002 Teddy R. Grogan, Jr. _________________________________________2003-2004 Roger A. Simmons ___________________________________________2004-2005 Jimmy D. O’Dell ____________________________________________2005-2006 Robert D. Moseson __________________________________________2006-2007 Raymond C. Dunn ___________________________________________2007-2008 C. Sterling Hughes ___________________________________________2009-2010 James C. McGee _____________________________________________2010-2011 Paul R. Drinkard _____________________________________________2012-2013 Jack C. Wade _______________________________________________2013-2014 ADDRESS OF THE MOST EXCELLENT GRAND HIGH PRIEST THOMAS F. CRAIG 2014-2015 To the Officers, Past Grand High Priests, Companions and Distinguished Guests of the Most Excellent Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Alabama: STATE OF THE CRAFT Although I have not heard at the time I am writing this what our membership situation is, I fear that it will be similar to the last several years, with a loss of 8 – 12% of our members. We are all concerned about these membership trends, and unfortunately it seems to be found throughout the craft. My counterpart as Grand Representative in the Grand Chapter of New Brunswick reports that his own Chapter has gone dark due to loss in membership, and the Membership Chairman for the Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle in London expressed the same concern when I reported membership in the Circle for Alabama. Although the concern is real, we must remember that Masonry has survived three other great crises in our history. The first was almost three hundred years ago at the founding of the Premiere Grand Lodge in 1717. Although independent lodges existed prior to that time, the idea of a Grand Lodge was new and for the first few years of the existence of that Premiere Grand Lodge in London, it was not clear that the idea would survive, as several of the founding lodges disappeared and rival grand lodges sprang up. Nevertheless, Masonry as we know it survived that period. The next crisis was nearly two hundred years ago, in the 1830’s, and although it was confined to the United States, several of our Grand Lodges went dark for several years as a result of the popular anti-Masonic movement of those days. A number of Masonic writers have written about the Brethren who kept the Masonic lamp lit through those times, and we must be grateful to them for their perseverance. STATE OF THE CRAFT (Continued) The Great Depression of the 1930’s was another world-wide crisis that threatened many lodges with insolvency. Reading some of the literature, many lodges were dependent on interest rates on their investments rather than income from dues to operate, and found that both sources were inadequate under the conditions of the time. We now seem to be in a fourth great crisis, which also seems to be world-wide. The causes are not clear (at least to me), whether it’s technology (I’ve seen predictions of disappearance of religion due to the prevalence of social media, and other polls showing a disengagement of people from civic activities such as voting, volunteering and other activities due to perhaps the same thing) or something